PureTech acquires LYT-100 to treat lymphedema

PureTech Health has announced that it has acquired and plans to develop a clinical-stage product candidate for the potential treatment of lymphatic and immunofibrotic diseases, including lymphedema.

The candidate, LYT-100, demonstrated anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory mechanisms in pre-clinical studies and was observed to be well tolerated with a favourable pharmacokinetic profile to support twice daily oral dosing.

The oral, small molecule candidate expands PureTech’s internal R&D pipeline and continues its progress in developing new medicines based on insights into the lymphatic system and local modulation of the immune system for the treatment of immune and central nervous system disorders, lymphatic conditions, and cancers.

The current standards of care for lymphedema – compression and physical therapy – are cumbersome and non-curative approaches that cannot correct immune cell infiltration or regenerate the dysregulated lymphatics.

“Lymphedema is a chronic and incurable secondary disease affecting millions of people, and there has been far too little progress made toward the development of meaningful treatments,” said Joe Bolen, chief scientific officer of PureTech.

He continued, “There are no approved drug therapies on the market that can treat lymphedema. PureTech is working to address this need by pioneering an approach designed to target the underlying fibrosis and inflammation affecting the lymphatics to potentially improve lymphatic function and decrease the symptoms of lymphedema. We look forward to advancing clinical studies and continuing to progress the development of this candidate.”

LYT-100 has been previously studied in healthy volunteers as part of a Phase I single ascending dose study.

Lymphedema is one of the most common lymphatic diseases. It is a chronic condition that afflicts millions of people and is characterised by severe swelling in parts of the body – usually in the arms or legs – due to the build-up of lymph fluid and inflammation, fibrosis, and adipose deposition.